Bill Neukom out: Giants news conference

Here’s what was said by the Giants at today’s 11 a.m. news conference. We now have added the Q&A from after the prepared remarks.

The news conference is over. Here were the main points. 1) Neither Bill Neukom nor Larry Baer would own up to any communication problems between Neukom and the other owners. But Neukom used phrases like “I think” and “that I was aware of” and “from my standpoint” repeatedly in answering questions about that topic. 2) Baer said there was no plan to change the team’s priorities (winning baseball) and said payroll would not go down. 3) Baer said the team would maintain its stance that it has territorial rights to San Jose. 4) Neukom is going to divest from the Giants.

Neukom, the out-going managing general partner, sat next to Larry Baer, the incoming CEO managing general partner.

Bill Neukom spoke first. Here’s our paraphrasing:

He said that the team had hoped to wait until after the season to announce that he is resigning as managing general partner and becoming a “chairman emeritus.” He said that in that role he’d be available to give advice to the team’s senior management and would also serve as the Giants representative on some MLB committees.

Neukom then talked about his background as a baseball fan in San Mateo Park and about how he came to be an owner and then managing partner of the Giants.

Next, he covered what his goals were as a member of and leader of the ownership team — essentially: increasing wins, income and franchise value. He said the team had accomplished all that. He also talked about coordinating all aspects of the franchise in a manner that from the minor leagues on up improved the baseball product. He said that the franchise had done that.

He said that having seen the team achieve those goals, this was the right time for him to step down as CEO and become “chairman emeritus” for the next season “at least.”

Larry Baer then spoke:

He said it was an honor to follow Peter Magowan and Neukom as CEO of the team.

He spoke about how stable the team has been since the current ownership group took over: three field managers, two general managers and now three CEOs.

He talked about the team’s excellent on-field performance and how good a job Brian Sabean had done and ditto for Bruce Bochy and the people who worked under Sabean and Bochy.

He said, “Going forward, this is business as usual. To put it simply, this is not a turnaround in any stretch of the imagination. The perspective of winning is foremost, tantamount, always will be. We’ve had continuity around that concept since this group has owned the team.”

Now we’ll get to the Q&A highlights:

Will there be a managing general partner?

Baer: He said he’ll report to a board of owners, just as Neukom did. In responding to the question, he didn’t say there wouldn’t be a managing general partner, but he didn’t say there would be.

Will Neukom withdraw from investor group?

Neukom: “I will be divesting, but I will be a season-ticket holder. … Where I can be useful, I intend to be useful.” He said he’ll be working at Stanford Law School, on the World Justice Project, and he’s got 12 grandchildren. And with divesting from the Giants will come investing in other things, like his family foundation and other nonprofit organizations, he said.

Were you forced out, Bill?

Neukom: “I don’t think that’s the right characterization at all. … I asked myself, ‘Is there a succession plan, how much longer can you, should you, do you want to do this job?’ In course of talking about that (with other owners, etc.), I came to the conclusion that this was the right time to turn the reins over to Larry. … It’s an evolutionary process. I didn’t have any fixed term in mind when I pushed other things aside and agreed to step in. I had accomplished what I set out to accomplish.”

Given the idea that communication issues led to your departure and given the previous departure of Peter Magowan, is this ownership group a hard group to work with?

Larry, how many people will you be answering to? Do you have to call nine people to get approval of player personnel moves?

Baer: “I don’t see a lot of change.” He went on to say that like always the owners and Sabean will figure out what they think the right player budget is and then Sabean will do what he can to improve the team within that budget. “It’s business as usual.”

Bill, is there one thing you’d do differently?

“There’s nothing material that I can think of that I regret.”

Does this change the franchise’s position on territorial rights over San Jose (which are helping keep the A’s out of San Jose)?

Baer: “No change on that position.”

Payroll for next season?

Baer: “I do not forsee the payroll going down.”

How was your relationship with the other owners?

Neukom: “My relationship with the other investors from my standpoint is positive.”

This isn’t business as usual, for the CEO to leave less than a year after winning the World Series. Was there a event that precipitated this?

Neukom: “There was no precipitating event that I was aware of.”

What about the possibility that there was a dispute between you and other owners over the value of a rainy day fund, versus spending money now?

Neukom: He said there’s a substantial rainy day fund.

Bill, was there a communication problem between you and the other owners?”